


In the Public Eye

by StarvingLunatic



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Arguing, Bisexual Female Character, Drama, F/F, Family, Family Drama, Gossip, Married Couple, Married Life, Same-Sex Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27495604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingLunatic/pseuds/StarvingLunatic
Summary: Emma and Regina are going through some martial problems and the entire town knows about it. The entire town also has opinions on it. They’re not helping at all.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 35
Kudos: 188





	1. Word Around Town

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own these characters; Disney/ABC does.
> 
> Public Service Announcement: this story is an AU without magic. 
> 
> A/N: I don’t have a beta for this, so be ready for my usual flood of mistakes. If you would like to beta for me, please, let me know. If you guys want updates for this story or any of my work, come say hi to me on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/SL-Kassidy-482097488469386/). You can get news about this and other stories. I’m also on Tumblr: [Slunatic](https://slunatic.tumblr.com/)

In the Public Eye

1: Word Around Town

Regina resisted the urge to stomp up the cement walkway as she marched back into the house with Henry trailing behind her. No reason to risk a heel with the way her luck was going. Her eyes burned, wanting to shed tears, but she did not have time for that. She needed to get Henry on his way. 

Henry dropped his book bag on the floor along with his jacket and flopped down on the couch while she paced, phone to her ear. Emma had better be awake or there would be Hell to pay. She did not have time for the usual nonsense.

“Hello?” Emma’s scratchy “just woke up” voice greeted her.

“You should’ve been up an hour ago,” Regina replied with a frown, not that she expected anything less. Emma would sleep the day away if someone did not wake her.

Emma yawned, right into the phone. “I’m working on it. I just kinda still expect you to get me up.”

Regina’s already worn thin patience was set to shatter. “A week and you still haven’t worked that out?” _Does she just expect me to do everything for her while she thinks so little of me? Well, yes, that’s probably why she thinks so little of you._

“My back has worked out this mattress at _Granny’s_ is a demon from Hell sent to torment it. And it’s hard to fall asleep without you snoring against my chest.”

Regina scowled. “I do _not_ snore.”

“It’s cute that you think that, but you’ve actually woken yourself up in the middle of the night from snoring.”

Regina ground her teeth together to prevent herself from barking insults into the phone. “Anyway, do you think you could pretend to be an adult for fifteen minutes and come pick Henry up for school?”

Emma let loose a louder, longer yawn. “Of course I’ll pick him up from school. I always do.”

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose. “Wake up, Emma. Pick him up _for_ school, as in take him to school. Not pick him up from school.” 

Henry snickered, like he was aware how the conversation was going. But, then again, he had seen his mother function in the morning. There was only one way for this conversation to go.

Emma grunted, possibly sitting up in bed. “You usually take him.”

Regina turned away from Henry, not wanting him to witness any of her aggression if possible. “Yes, I usually do, but today, I can’t. My car won’t start. So, could you wake up and come get him for school?”

There was yet another yawn. “Yeah. Be there in five minutes.” That meant fifteen minutes.

Regina sighed. “Thank you. Drink some coffee before you come.” She needed Emma as alert as she could be in the morning driving to them. She disconnected the call. “Your mother’s coming to get you.”

He grinned. “So, I can play my game until she comes?”

Regina let it go. She had enough stress for the morning. She did not need to add fighting with Henry to the list. While he played his _Switch_ , she called into the office to let her assistant know she would be late. Thankfully, all her meetings were in the afternoon, after lunch. She would be behind in paperwork, though.

Fifteen minutes later, Emma was at the door. Her hair was wild, clearly neglected as she probably spent most of her time squeezing into her jeans. If Regina did have the urge to punch something, she might have taken the time to admire Emma in the pants, but her morning was ruined and her fury boiled over. _So, fuck Emma, and not in the good way!_

Regina’s stomach twisted and her nerves scratched against her bones, clawing deep into the marrow. She wanted to rage against Emma, but she kept it in. _Now is not the time_. She just needed Henry to get to school. They had enough drama in their lives without people speculating why their son missed a day of school. And the town would talk about something that simple, just because it was _her_ son.

Henry jumped up, shrugged back into his jacket, and secured his bag as Emma barely stepped inside. She did not need to come further than a step inside, which was good. They could run out and get him to school on time. There did not need to be any real interaction between them.

Emma glanced at Regina and their eyes caught. They stared at each other like idiots for too long. She bit her tongue, wanting to scold Emma over wearing her damn red leather jacket. Yes, it was deep into spring, but they had a cold spell the past few days, but now was not the time to reprimand Emma. _Well, really, it would be the best time, but she wouldn’t listen_.

“Hey,” Emma said.

“Hey,” Regina replied.

“So…” Emma paused as if she did not know what to ask and rubbed the back of her neck, sheepish at the very wrong time. Where was this awkwardness a week ago when it would have been more appropriate and appreciated? “What’s wrong with your car?”

Regina scowled. She did not even want to think about it. “I’m not sure. I called Michael and he’s sending a tow truck.” _Or so he claimed since that was almost a half-hour ago!_ Meanwhile, her poor car was probably dead. _No, don’t think like that_. The car would be fine. The way her heart clenched in on itself let her know she did not believe that in the slightest.

Emma looked around outside. “When? You called him before you called me, right?”

“I did.”

Emma narrowed her gaze. “You were snippy.”

Regina stomped her foot, heel echoing on the foyer tile. “I was annoyed! He had no clear answers for anything. After this, he’ll have lost my business.” He knew how important her car was and he acted like it was not a priority. She would take her business elsewhere, where someone could give her a straight answer when she asked a question.

Emma chuckled and shook her head. “And you probably lost his vote.”

Regina waved that off. “It doesn’t matter.” The election was months away. She barely gave it any thought, especially lately. “Get Henry to school.” Someone needed to be on time in their family.

“Okay.” Emma waved Henry over to her. “Call with news about the car.”

“I will. Please take Henry. He doesn’t need to be late,” Regina said, shooing them away.

Emma nodded and stepped forward, arms partially up. Then she stopped and her arms dropped, remembering she was no longer welcome in comforting Regina, even over something like this. No, Emma forfeit her right to touch Regina until she did the right thing. If _Granny’s_ bed was really hurting her back, maybe she would do the right thing sooner rather than later. _Oh, please, this is Emma_.

“Um… right. You can count on me,” Emma said.

Regina bit back a snide comment and resisted folding her arms across her chest. They did not argue or fight in front of Henry. Emma had to know she dodged some scathing words, patted Henry on the shoulder, and they got moving. Henry hugged Regina on the way out while Emma watched her with puppy eyes. Regina ignored her.

Once she was alone, Regina sighed, tension draining from her body like someone pulled a plug. She had not been ready to see Emma. A week was not enough to heal the wound Emma dealt her.

“Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it,” Regina said to herself. She needed something to do to get her mind off of things. Where was Michael and his damn tow truck?

-8-8-8-8-

“Mom’s still mad at you, huh?” Henry asked from the passenger seat of Emma’s bug. Regina would have Emma’s head for this when she found out, but it was not like she could get in more trouble. She was neck deep in shit now.

Emma blew out a breath, hoping it would ease the knot in her chest from seeing Regina. It did not. “Yeah, man. Your ma messed the hell up, though.”

He stared at her, studying her. “What did you do?”

“Nothing for you to worry about.” It would pass eventually and they could go back to being a family.

He stared for a moment longer, like he did not believe her. He shifted in his seat. “When are you coming home?”

Emma drummed her thumbs against the steering wheel, hating the anxiety nipping at her insides, taking away little bits of her. _How long until there’s nothing left? Is that what Regina wants?_ “As soon as your mom stops being mad at me.” Or so she hoped. Regina was the type to hold a grudge forever, even if she knew the truth.

He gave her a hard look. “Did you apologize?”

Emma arched an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Did you apologize? You said you messed up. So, did you apologize for that? Sometimes, you make Mom stay mad at you longer because you don’t apologize.”

“Because your mom gets mad at every little thing. I’m not always wrong.” She had not done anything wrong this time and Regina flipped out and kicked her out. She messed up because she opened her big mouth.

“You just said you messed up.”

“Because I said something stupid, not because this whole thing is my fault.”

Henry stared at her, eyes narrowed, examining her, as if trying to figure out how this was her fault. He did that to both of his mothers, but he usually could not figure out their screw-ups with each other. They kept their business away from him as best they could and she was proud of that. She had been in too many homes where the children knew more than they should or needed. It made it hard to have a happy, healthy childhood.

“I want you to come back home,” Henry said in a small voice.

“I want that, too, kid.” She wanted it more than anything. She missed her family. She rubbed his shoulder for a second as her heart squeezed in her chest. It was like there were thorns pressed against her lungs.

His eyes went wide, tears building up but not falling. “Then just apologize to Mom.”

“It’s not that simple, kid.” She could not just fold for Regina or Regina might try this again. This was unfair.

He folded his arms and glared out of the window. “Have you even tried?”

She did not answer. She had no reason to apologize. She had not done anything wrong. Regina was punishing her for no reason.

“You can’t wait Mom out,” he said.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she replied. He might be onto something about not being able to out-wait Regina, though.

“Hurting Mom’s feelings is wrong.”

“But, I didn’t do it.” In fact, she tried to spare Regina’s feelings, but no one wanted to give her credit for that. So, now she was the bad guy when really she was the victim who tried to do the right thing to save Regina grief.

Henry gave her a look that was too much like his mother for her to stand right now. She ached, longed for home, and it was not fair that she was being blamed for any of this. _Well, if you just kept your mouth shut, things wouldn’t be that way_. A gnawing sensation in her stomach made her think that might not be the case.

The rest of the ride was tense, but thankfully short. Henry looked miserable by the time they pulled up to his school, scowling at the clean car floor. They had to fix this for him. It had been a week and he was so unhappy. 

Emma caressed his head. “Hey, bud, we’re going to fix this, okay?”

He did not bother to look at her. “Then just apologize.” He was begging her and it cut her to the bone.

“I’ll try.” She had to do something. This was spilling over into Henry and that was unacceptable. “Love you.”

“I love you, too.” He hopped out of the car without looking at her.

Emma sighed and scrubbed her face with both hands. They had to do something now. She would talk to Regina about it, after she found out what was going on with Regina’s car. She texted Regina to find out if Michael finally towed the car. 

**He claims he’s five minutes away** , Regina replied.

**_Want me to come wait with you?_ **

**No, go to work. It’s not like you have deputies to spare.**

**_I would if someone would increase my budget_ ** **.**

She could see Regina rolling her eyes in her mind. **As soon as Storybrooke turns into Gotham City, you’ll get the budget for your batmobile.**

Emma chuckled. **_So, now’s the time for me to start my super villain career to up the crime rate_.**

**We both know you don’t have the attention span to become a super villain.**

No, if anyone was the super villain between them, it was Regina. Too bad they were not in a good place for her to make that joke. She would not step on that landmine.

 **Michael’s finally here** , Regina reported.

**_Good. Call me about the car_ ** **.**

There was no response, so Emma assumed everything was in motion… or Regina was cursing Michael out. Maybe it was a little bit of both. She would hear about it later.

Emma went to the station, late thanks to the unexpected pick up and drop off. Good thing she was her own boss… kind of. Mulan was already there, ever the faithful and responsible deputy. One day Mulan would run for Sheriff and beat Emma in a super landslide. Emma would not be mad. She would vote for Mulan.

“Everything okay?” Mulan asked, sitting at her desk, on the computer. It was possible she was watching _YouTube_ videos, but Emma would still vote for her the day she decided to run for Sheriff.

Emma made a beeline to the coffee pot. “Yeah. Regina’s car wouldn’t start, so I had to go pick up Henry and drop him off at school.”

Mulan nodded, but gave her a puzzled look. “What’s wrong with Regina’s car?”

“She doesn’t know yet.” It better not be serious. Regina would fall apart if her classic Benz could not be saved. It meant the world to her.

“How’s Henry?”

Emma blew out a breath as she poured herself a large cup of coffee. “This is starting to get to him.”

Mulan gave her a hard stare. “Then maybe it’s time you set it right.”

Emma arched an eyebrow. “How? I didn’t do anything wrong, but she kicked me out.” She drank her coffee, even though it was just a habit now. She was awake since Mulan was jumping on her about this thing with Regina. She had not done anything wrong, even if Mulan wanted to make it sound like she did. Hell, even if Regina wanted to make it seem like she did.

Mulan leaned toward her a little without getting out of her seat. “You left willingly. You must have understood underneath it all, you did something.”

“I left because she was crying. I didn’t want to make it worse.” She could not take Regina crying and did not want to find out what happened after crying. It hurt to see Regina reduced to tears, even if she did not get why. It was not her fault. _Why the hell did she have to cry?_ Thinking about it was like a punch to the gut, but it still did not mean she did something wrong.

Mulan had the nerve to give her “the look,” like she was a bad child. “Because you did something wrong.”

Emma was tired of hearing that. She wished the whole damn town would mind its collective freaking business. _They_ were the reason this whole thing was as bad as it was.

“You don’t usually butt into people’s personal lives,” Emma said. That was probably rude and since Mulan was her friend and employee, she cared. She drank more coffee and waited to see how Mulan would react to that.

“Yes, well, when I see you drowning, I tend to throw you a line. You can’t keep saying it wasn’t your fault,” Mulan replied.

Emma scowled and paced a few steps. “It wasn’t! She kissed me and if this town had better things to do with their lives, Regina wouldn’t even know!”

Mulan stared at her like she was an idiot. “So, you weren’t going to tell her?”

“No. What good would that do?” That was the whole problem! If no one had said anything, Regina would be none the wiser, and she would be at home sleeping in her own bed without getting a stiff neck.

Mulan narrowed her gaze on Emma and her jaw clenched, but she did not say anything. Emma’s insides shook, but she ignored it. She had not done anything wrong, regardless what Mulan’s silence insisted.

“I’m sorry Miss-Perfect-Marriage, but I didn’t do anything wrong,” Emma said.

“The anger you’re directing at me is really for yourself. But, you did nothing wrong,” Mulan replied with a shrug and put her attention back to her computer screen.

That was as close to snippy as Mulan came and Emma did not want to press her luck in finding out what it was like when Mulan snapped. She flopped down at her desk in the “bullpen.” There was paperwork to do, as always. She did not get a chance to feign doing it. Her phone buzzed. It was Regina.

“So, what happened with your car, babe?” Emma asked.

Regina actually sniffled. “He said… he said… he can’t fix it. It’s done.” Her voice cracked at the end.

“What? That can’t be right.” Emma took care of both of their cars. She would know when that car was done. Now was not the time.

Regina took a couple of breaths before she managed to speak again. “He said there’s nothing he can do. He asked me to sell him the car for scraps.”

“Fuck that!” Emma huffed. Mulan looked at her with an arched eyebrow and Emma waved her off. “Babe, have him bring the car back to the house. I’ll look at it.”

“Are you sure?”

“If I can keep my damn bug running for longer than Henry’s been alive, I think I can save your car.” Of course, Regina’s car might have been older than the bug, but it did not matter. She could save the damn thing. Michael was just being a lazy ass.

“Will you?” Regina’s voice was so small, a little hope sneaking in, but life had taught her not to hope.

 _Damn, she’s acting like I’m not going to do anything for her just because she’s being unreasonable_. She liked to think most of their relationship involved Regina being unreasonable and she still did things with Regina. “Of course. I’ll take a look at it when I drop Henry off at home and we’ll go from there.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Regina. I’m sure.”

There was a pause. “Thank you,” her voice was barely audible.

“No problem. Are you at work?”

“No, I…” Regina blew out a breath. “I had to take a walk.”

“It’ll be okay. I’ve got this. Go to work. You’ll feel better when you don your Madam Mayor persona.”

“That is not a persona.”

Emma scoffed. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s damn good body armor.” It took her a long time to figure out the person Regina projected to the world was not the “real” Regina. Regina on her own was soft, but stern, and pretty introverted. Madam Mayor was hard, take-charge, and occasionally bordered on anti-social in the way she dealt with people.

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Love you.” Emma winced when the call was disconnected without another word. Regina could not be so pissed at her that she stopped loving her, right? _Why not? People stop loving you all the time, even back when you were little and cute_.

“So, what happened? You’ll fix her car and magically she’ll forget you kissed Lily?” Mulan asked. 

Emma scowled. “First of all, I didn’t kiss Lily. She kissed me. Again, the town blew this shit way out of proportion. But, this isn’t about that.”

“Then what’s it about?”

“That car’s Regina’s other kid. She takes care of it in ways I would’ve killed for as a kid. It used to belong to her father and he gave it to her as a present when she started law school… and then he had the bad manners to die right after. It was his last gift to her and the one of the few things of his that her mother didn’t take from her. That car’s so much more than a car to her. Michael doesn’t know that, so when he told her it was done and asked her to sell it for scrap, he just ripped her heart out of her chest and danced the tango on it. I can’t just sit back and do nothing.” It was not like Regina would be upset with her forever anyway.

“So, you’ll fix the woman’s broken down car for sentimental reasons, but refuse to apologize for kissing another woman and not telling her?” Mulan said that like those two things were related.

“I didn’t kiss another woman. Lily kissed me. I hate Lily.”

Mulan rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index finger. “That’s not the point.”

Emma sucked her teeth. “Isn’t it? I’m not a cheater. I didn’t cheat, but everyone is acting like I did.”

With wide eyes, Mulan made a show of looking around the station. “Absolutely no one is acting like that.”

“Yes, they are.” People gave her hostile looks and whispered about her behind her back. It was not like she was not used to it, but she was not used to being labeled a cheater. She had not cheated in any way, shape, or form. The only reason she did not deck Lily for daring to touch her like that was she was the Sheriff and just felt like she should hold herself to higher standards. 

“It’ll get better,” Mulan said.

Emma scoffed. “Can’t really get any worse with me being homeless, could it?”

“You’re not homeless and that could be easily remedied if you simply accepted responsibility.”

Emma groaned and threw her hands up. “I didn’t do anything wrong! She kissed me without my consent. I’m the victim here! Lily always ruins my fucking life.” She should have punched Lily when she kissed her. Sure, the town probably would have viewed that as worse, but at least Regina would not think she was a cheater. Regina would not have kicked her out. Her life would not be completely ruined.

“Your life isn’t ruined. You can fix this.”

“You think flowers would help?” Emma asked, not that she would buy flowers. That was too close to an apology and she had not done anything wrong.

Mulan laughed. “Save up and buy an orchard.”

That was probably the best advice Emma got since this whole mess started. How much did apple orchards cost anyway? She would have to look that up later.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina stared out of the window of Kathryn’s car as they got closer to her home. Kathryn had been kind enough to offer to ride Regina to and from work while her car was out of commission. There was a knot in her stomach and her nerves shook like they were attempting to flee her body. It took everything inside of her to keep the anxiety inside. She wanted to say it was because of her car possibly dying, but that was not the reason.

She tended to be the last one home and that usually did not bother her, except for this past week. When she got home, Emma was there because Emma picked Henry up from school and now stayed with him until Regina got home, which meant she had to see Emma. And Regina very much did not want to see Emma. The betrayal was still fresh, seeping blood, and the sight of her made the injury to her soul throb and itch.

“You’ll be all right?” Kathryn asked from the driver’s seat as she pulled up in front of Regina’s house. Emma was in the driveway, inspecting Regina’s car. Henry was there as well, probably “assisting.” He did not know a thing about cars.

Regina sighed and ignored the pain in her heart. “I will.”

Kathryn pursed her lips as she took in the scene. “At least she’s fixing the car like she said she would.”

“The problem is never her doing what she says she will.” The problem would always be the things not said.

“I’ll be by in the morning at eight.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Kathryn scoffed. “You’ve done the same for me. We should just be happy my office is close to town hall.” 

Regina nodded and exited the car, briefcase in hand. Kathryn waved and drove off. It was a warm and sunny day, but it did nothing for Regina’s mood. Regina barely had a chance to step onto the walkway when Henry grabbed her into a tight hug. The embrace helped ease the tension coiling inside of her like a bulky python.

“Emma said she can save the car!” Henry grinned, bouncing on his heels.

Regina’s heart jumped in her chest and she looked to Emma for affirmation. Emma was wiping her hands on a rag. Her undershirt was filthy and her skin glistened with sweat. Regina’s fingers itched to trace muscled biceps, but her brain crushed her heart immediately as memories of Lily caressing those arms flashed through her mind. Lily had her hands on Emma and had her tongue in Emma’s mouth. _And Emma wasn’t going to say a damn thing about it_.

“So, it’ll live?” Regina managed to ask in almost her normal tone, or so she hoped. There was a tremble in her throat. It might have managed to escape with the question. _It doesn’t matter. Emma understands_. It hurt that Emma understood this, but did not seem to understand how she messed up. _How can she know me so well and not at all?_

Emma nodded. “It’ll take a lot of work, but I got this. I just need to start hunting around for parts.” 

“Well, money is no object here.” She could not lose this car right now. _Daddy…_ Her stomach crunched into itself and she felt like she might vomit.

“I didn’t think it was. So, I’ll get started as soon as I get home…” Emma winced and glanced away. “I mean _Granny’s_.” 

“You could start in the house!” Henry pointed to the stairs.

“No, I think it would be best for Emma to go home,” Regina said. Emma flinched. Regina did not care. She was not in the mood to see or deal with Emma now, not when she swore she had not done anything wrong.

“But, mom!” Henry glared at her.

For once, Henry’s anger did not affect Regina. He did not know what his mother put her through. She was not wrong here. “Everyone has work to do. We should get to it.” And Regina did not have the urge to share space with Emma anytime soon. Emma did not deserve it.

And Emma knew. She did not argue. She hugged Henry, promised to get him on time in the morning, and she would start on the Benz as soon as the parts began coming in. She was good at leaving. If only she was good at recognizing she did the wrong thing.

Regina and Henry retreated into the house. Henry watched Regina with glistening eyes. Regina would address that issue after she got out of this suit. She needed comfortable pants and wine ASAP.

Once she was in black yoga pants and a well-worn t-shirt, Regina was ready to face Henry. He was in the living room, frowning at a schoolbook. She sat down on the end of the couch, tucked her feet under herself, and sighed as silence reigned in the room.

Henry eventually turned to her, a shattered look in his eyes. “Mom, when can Ma come home?”

“As soon as she admits she was wrong and apologizes.” And properly begged forgiveness. Yes, she could come home, but Regina would still be infuriated.

Henry scratched his cheek. “What if she doesn’t think she did anything wrong?”

 _Then welcome to our new normal. It’s Hell_. It was Hell and it hurt. There was no way Emma did not know what she did, or that would hurt even more. “She knows what she did.” She just refused to acknowledge it.

Henry’s face twisted in an unfortunate grimace. “What if she didn’t do anything wrong, though?”

“Is that what she told you?” Regina fought to keep her face from showing her fury. What was Emma playing at? It was low to try and have Henry think she was overreacting when Emma betrayed her.

Henry shook his head. “Not in so many words.”

“Henry, this is between me and your mother. It’s not your concern.”

Henry frowned. “My other mother getting kicked out isn’t my concern? People whispering behind my back isn’t my concern?”

Regina snapped to attention. “Who has been whispering behind your back?” The town loved to gossip, especially when Regina was involved, especially about this matter, but she would destroy whoever mentioned this to Henry. She did not want his opinion of Emma to change, even if she was a damn liar. Emma was Henry’s hero and children deserved to have parents they could look up to.

Henry shrugged. “People.”

She stared him down until he squirmed. “People like who? Your classmates or your teachers?”

He looked away. “Classmates.”

Regina ground her teeth together. She could not punish children for repeating things they probably heard from parents and older siblings. So, she would focus on what she could fix. She reached over and ran her hand through Henry’s hair. He looked at her.

“Henry, don’t listen to any nonsense you hear. They don’t know what happened between me and your mother. They’re talking about nonsense for pure entertainment. They’re not part of this family,” Regina said.

“But, I am! Shouldn’t I know what happened or get a say in if Ma stays or goes?” Henry asked with fire in his eyes.

“No.”

He balled his hands into fists and his arms shook. “Why not? Is it because Ma’s gonna leave you?”

“She’s not.” Regina was very confident in that. People seemed to think they were at the end of their marriage as Emma planned to trade her in for a younger, more familiar model. That was not going to happen, but the truth did not make for fun gossip.

Henry scowled. “Then why can’t she stay here?”

“Because I can’t stand to look at her right now and she has to face what she did wrong.” _And how she hurt me_.

“And until then I just don’t get to live with my mother? How is that fair?” His face was red. He looked like he wanted to hit something.

It really was not, but Regina could not trust herself to see Emma constantly right now and not do something they would all regret. “You can see her wherever you want. She knows where you are. You know where she is. And I’m not saying this is fair. None of this is fair, but we have to make do with what we have.”

He flexed his jaw, as if chewing on his words. “Well, what we have sucks.”

That was only partially true. “We still have each other. I like to think that doesn’t suck.”

He shrugged. She did not expect him to agree. He did not know what it was like to have a loved one gone forever. Beyond that, he was too raw over the situation, especially not really knowing what happened. She was festering with knowledge, rotting away with the truth. Emma did not trust her and after everything still did not think she did anything wrong. The nerve of her! And people thought Regina was a sociopath.

 _No, no, no_. To avoid going down that rabbit hole, Regina went and got her glass of wine. She returned to the couch, in case Henry required her assistance with any of his work.

When Henry finished his homework, only needing help with a little bit of math, he retreated to the safety of his room. Regina resisted the urge to chase him and explain this was not her fault. It was not, but he apparently already heard that from Emma. He was more likely to believe Emma. They were always allies. Possibly because Emma gave birth to him. Whatever the reason, she would not change his mind once he laid the blame at her feet.

Regina started dinner to keep busy. The house was quiet without Emma. Once upon a time, she would have killed for this, but now it felt like it strangled her. Emma breathed life into the house and her absence brought deathly silence. But, Regina would take the cemetery silence over Emma’s face. How dare she claim she did not do anything!

She tried not to think about it, but it was impossible as she moved about the kitchen. She stood in this very spot when she confronted Emma over the kiss with Lily. Emma denied it was her fault and then turned the knife counterclockwise with, “I wasn’t even going to tell you!” Apparently, that was acceptable to her. Regina had blown up at that and Emma doubled down. She needed Emma to leave or things would have gotten messy. Emma had to realize that and that was why she left. But, she probably thought she was just deescalating the situation, like Regina was being hysterical.

“But, she’s the one who betrayed me,” Regina growled. Unfortunately, it seemed she was the only one the truth mattered to. The town had their gossip. Emma had her denial and Henry had Emma’s word. Regina was left alone, which was the story of her life.

-8-8-8-8-

The most embarrassing thing about this whole mess was how the whole town knew, so the second Regina stepped into her office, she noticed the whispers and looks. Technically, being part of town gossip was nothing new. It really was the story of her life. There was never a shortage for them to whisper about when it came to her, even when she was doing her best to keep things close to her chest. 

But, there was something malicious to this gossip that had not been present in all of the other gossip. Before, it was typically talk, speculation, on something that happened involving her. This was different. They presented the situation like somehow Regina had gotten what was coming to her, that it had to be her fault, and only her fault. It had to be her fault because there was no way the town’s favorite fuck-up could actually fuck up.

So, people passed the time trying to blame Regina for Emma kissing another woman, outside, during a town festival, on goddamn Main Street, where all the world could see. It was a bit jarring to find out how conservative and traditional the town could be, considering how much they enjoyed celebrating their bisexual mayor and sheriff, Maine’s favorite same sex couple. It helped that how they got together was like a fairy tale or movie. The town had praised them up to the point that there was news coverage of their engagement and wedding. But, now, all of that was out of the window and sides were chosen. It seemed like most people sided with Emma.

“If she loosened up a bit, she’d probably save her marriage,” a clerk said just as Regina came up behind her.

“I hope whomever this is manages,” Regina said and the clerk practically jumped out of her skin as she turned around.

“Madam Mayor! Good morning!” she said that with the appropriate amount of terror.

“Good morning. I had assumed it was a work day, but you know what they say about assumptions,” Regina replied.

“Oh! Um…” The little group of three scattered.

Regina continued on her way to her office, where her assistant, Tinker Bell, waited for her at the door. She was the product of hippie parents and it showed in every aspect of her life, but she was loyal, fierce, and forceful when necessary. She did not take any guff, not even from Regina, even when Regina was purposefully, unnecessarily mean. She was the perfect person to help Regina in business.

“Green dress again? People will think you’re in a perpetual walk of shame,” Regina said as she stepped into her office with Tinker Bell right behind her.

“It’s my favorite color!” Tinker Bell smiled, looking like a blond pixie. Regina liked to think it was part of Tinker Bell’s disguise, people never suspected she was as pugnacious as she was as she came off as an airhead blond much of the time.

Regina had little room to talk about attire considering her love of red and black. “What do we have today?”

“Not much. A lot of paperwork. Oh!” Tinker Bell winced.

“What?”

“A safety meeting with Sheriff Swan.”

“Of course.” Because why should her days not be filled with Emma?

“I can reschedule if you want, until the heat dies down.”

Regina fought down a headache as she eased into her chain. Usually, the soft leather hugged her and felt like a throne. Now, it felt like the electric chair. “No. We can be professional.”

Tinker Bell arched an eyebrow. “Can you?”

“When have we not been?” It was a ridiculous thing to say, but she could not let Tinker Bell get by, as that was not who Regina was. So, obviously throwing fuel on the fire was the way to go.

Tinker Bell snorted. “That’s a long list, especially from year one.”

Regina waved that off. “The first year doesn’t count. We hated each other.”

“You punched her in the face.” Tinker Bell snickered.

“It’s a good thing I wasn’t up for reelection that year.”

“I dunno. Knowing you throw a mean right would’ve secured my vote.”

“Well, maybe that’ll hold true this year. My current scandal isn’t winning over voters.” People seemed to think the worst of her. While she had no plans to start really thinking about her reelection until the summer, this could be something that stuck with people all the way to Election Day. And, who knew when it would be over, especially since Emma did want to acknowledge she had done anything wrong.

“None of that is your fault.”

“Tell that to the masses.” They had already decided Regina was guilty. Her hours were too long, so she could not possibly be a good wife. She was too bossy and no one wanted to be bitched at constantly (they clearly did not know Emma). She was too uptight, so she probably was not good in bed (clearly they did not know her very well). Every excuse pointed the finger solely at her. Emma’s indiscretion was on her for some imaginary personal failing.

Tinker Bell frowned. “People need to mind their own business.”

“My life long request.” The town knew more about her than she ever wanted and she often felt bare before them. One day, she might just leave and never look back. She would probably be happier for it.

“May your prayers be answered.”

Regina smiled, even though sorrow weighed heavy in her. Her prayers were often answered. The answer was always no, hence her current situation.

“Let’s get the day started,” Regina said. She needed something to get her mind off of Emma, the town, and everything that was not work.

Tinker Bell nodded and they began working. It went smoothly until her eleven o’clock arrived. Tinker Bell always scheduled Emma right before lunch, so they could spend lunch together. That would have been much appreciated a little over a week ago.

“Damn, you’d think they’d have something else to whisper about by now,” Emma grumbled as she stepped into the office and slammed the door behind her.

“I’m sure this will hold them for months,” Regina replied. She had been involved in gossip that lasted for years. Hell, some of them still liked to whisper about her “feud” with the damn Blanchard girl, as if Snow had not damn near ruined her life.

Emma scowled, not used to small town life, not that Storybrooke was actually a small town, legally speaking or by its size. There were over thirty thousand people, but they were mostly generational, so everyone knew each other. Every family knew of every other family, even if they never met. Emma had never been anywhere long enough to experience that.

“This is bullshit,” Emma said as she flopped into the seat across from Regina.

“Yes, well, remember that the next time you let a random woman kiss you.”

Emma sucked her teeth. “Damn Lily. She is constantly messing up my life. Why the hell is she even here?”

“Searching for family.” She would not have even bothered to look into that if only Lily had not been personal with her wife. After that, she needed to know why that bitch was in her town. It turned out Lily and Emma had a lot in common.

Emma groaned and held her head in her hands for a moment. “Of course her family would end up in the same town as mine. God hates me.”

“You’re not alone in that.”

Emma looked her in the eyes. “It hasn’t been all bad luck.”

Regina curled her lip. “Says you.” She had the misfortune to fall in love with a woman who thought so little of her she was not even worth the truth.

Emma flinched, not expecting that. Like Regina was supposed to melt from her flattery. She needed this meeting over now.

“Onto business…” Regina said to get Emma out of the office, out of her face.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma had never been happier for a meeting to be over. Regina looked like she was trying to set her on fire the whole time. She could partially understand why Regina was upset. She spent all day in an office with people talking about her just outside her door, but she did not have to take it out on Emma. It was not like what they were saying was true.

Emma needed comfort food. She grabbed a table at _Granny’s_ and while she waited for her grilled cheese and fries, she checked on the car parts she ordered. A couple of days wait. _Hopefully, Regina lets me live for those couple of days_.

“Dude, you look troubled,” Ruby said as she sat down Emma’s food and then sat down with Emma.

“I just had a meeting with Regina,” Emma replied.

“How did that go?”

Emma shook her head. “She’s still pissed.”

“Well, you did have another woman’s tongue in your mouth right in the middle of the main street with fireworks going off in the background.”

“But, it’s not like I wanted it. Everybody at Town Hall won’t shut up about it and they’ve made up all these damn lies about what happened or why it happened.”

Ruby snorted. “This is nothing. You missed the time she tried to elope with Daniel and he ended up dead. People are still speculating her mother murdered that poor guy.”

“I’ve heard about it.” Emma heard some of the rumors, but Regina told her the truth. She and Daniel were set to elope when he dropped dead right in front of her. Her mother stepped in right after, barely sparring Daniel a glance and reminded Regina who she belonged to and where she belonged. It was creepy and scary to hear Regina talk about it. Regina would not put it past her mother to have poisoned Daniel somehow, but his official cause of death was an aneurysm. 

“Gives you an idea as to how much people love talking about her. For a while, thanks to your happy family vibes, people had nice gossip, but deep down the town loves when Regina’s doing bad.” Ruby shook her head.

Emma curled her lip. “Well, that’s awful. I thought people liked her. They voted her in as mayor and reelected her.”

“Yeah, but when Regina’s doing bad, it’s always free entertainment. You know, I don’t think Regina has ever had to struggle in private.”

Emma kept her mouth closed, but for all the town swore they knew about Regina, they had barely scratched the surface of her suffering. As nosy as people were, they failed to notice Regina was a lifelong victim of child abuse from her mother. No one knew how deep her father’s death actually hit her and how she battled depression for a year while climbing to the top of her class in law school. No one knew she adopted Henry to try to fill a void in her soul, which she considered the very wrong reason and she had almost sent him back, but could not find it in her to do. Added to that, they did not know she constantly fought back ideas that she was a bad mother or would end up like her mother as she loved Henry and tried to give him everything he needed to grow into a wonderful person. No one knew the struggle of gaining and building a relationship with her sister after Zelena literally tried to destroy her. They knew the stuff that would make a good movie, not the stuff that made a tough human being.

“So, you think she’s ready to forgive you yet?” Ruby asked.

Emma snorted. “Not with all the talk at her office and not from the way she looked at me for the whole meeting. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she strapped me to the chair and whipped me.”

Ruby grinned. “Ah, so you think she will forgive you.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Shut up. Being tied up isn’t one of my kinks, anyway.”

“But, whipping is?” Ruby wiggled her eyebrows and Emma growled. She was not in the mood for this. Ruby held her hands up in surrender. “So, what are you going to do?”

Emma shrugged. “Wait her out.”

Ruby guffawed. “Wait out Queen of Grudges? She’s still pissed at Snow for something that happened twenty years ago.”

Emma did not say anything, but she did not begrudge Regina’s desire to hold onto that hatred. Snow might have only been ten, but her loose lips cost Regina the life she wanted and possibly cost Daniel his actual life. As far as Regina was concerned, Snow was a murderer, killing the life that could have made Regina free and happy. Snow telling Regina’s mother about Daniel was the end of them, whether he died or not, as far as Regina was concerned. But, the town did not know that bit.

“Hopefully, this doesn’t mess up her run for reelection,” Ruby said.

Emma stared at her friend. “So, screw my marriage, huh?”

Ruby waved that off. “Dude, you pulled Regina from a burning building when you both hated each other. I don’t think she’ll be walking away because of a kiss that may or may not have been your fault. The woman is Queen Petty, but goddamn.”

Emma was not sure about that. They never brought up Emma’s act of heroism, or stupidity as Regina called, a little while after it happened. Emma did not like to think about. They almost died. Regina almost died. Her kid almost lost his mother and it might have been from Emma’s unwittingly making a deal with the devil for her job as sheriff. Politics clearly were not her thing.

“Okay, you also saved Henry from falling down a mine. Come on. If that’s not a free pass for life, nothing is,” Ruby said.

Emma nodded. That probably turned a corner for her and Regina more than her saving Regina’s life. Henry was everything for Regina, which Emma was very happy about. When she gave Henry up for adoption, she wanted him to find his forever family, a loving family. Regina was that, with or without Emma.

“Well, gotta get back to work. Talk to you tonight?” Ruby asked, a subtle way of finding out if Emma was welcomed at home.

“Yup.”

Ruby sighed as she got up. Emma devoured her food without really tasting it, which honestly made comfort food pointless. She missed Regina’s cooking. She missed Regina’s rendition of classic comfort food, always done up with fancy spices and posh ingredients. She missed Regina, and home, and their life together. This was not fair. She had not done anything wrong!

Emma went back to work, ready to explode. Of course the universe decided to rub salt in the wound. Mulan was back from lunch and at her desk, FaceTiming Marian, her wife. They had a cute, happy blended family just like Emma and Regina. Except an evil blast from Mulan’s past did not wreck things for her like Lily did for Regina. Emma did not mean to slam the door to her office, but she did. Luckily, the glass did not shatter, but so what if it did? Everything else around her was falling apart, so why not her office as well?

After a couple of minutes, Mulan ended her call and poked her head in Emma’s office. “Is this a cry for help? If so, I already told you how to fix it.”

Emma stared at her desk, as if she wanted to burn a hole through the damn thing. “I’m not apologizing. I didn’t do anything wrong.” She locked eyes with Mulan. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Mulan gave her a thoughtful look. “So, Regina should apologize?”

There was a snowball’s chance in Hell of that happening. “No, but she should let me back into the house.”

“And you can talk about it?”

“What’s there to talk about? I told her Lily kissed me. I didn’t want any part of it. It was totally non-consented on my part. What more does she want from me?”

Mulan sighed, shaking her head. “Maybe you should look at this at a different angle.”

“And what angle is that?”

“What if the kiss isn’t the problem?”

Emma’s face scrunched up to the point she thought she would give herself a headache. What the hell did that mean? Mulan did not stick around to explain, leaving Emma to stew in her own devices. Boo.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the end, where someone may or may not fix this mess.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters. Disney/ABC does.

2: Speak Now

Parts started arriving for the Benz and Emma wasted no time getting to work, setting the car up in the driveway. Henry “helped,” as much as an eleven-year-old with no interest in cars could help. It was nice to hang out with him, even though she wished he shared her love of cars. He handed her tools, though, and asked what the tools did. She liked that. He was curious.

“Kid, you should be in a jacket,” Emma said as she stood up from being under the hood. She had to stretch.

“You’re not wearing one.” He motioned to her. She had on a flannel shirt, but it was unbuttoned, revealing her white tank top underneath. The only reason she still had the red flannel on was because Henry was there. She was hot, but she did not want him to think it was okay to be out in this weather without any cover at all. She wiped her brow with her sleeve.

“I’m doing the work here. I’ve worked up a sweat. You’re passing me tools, the wrong ones most of the time.” She gave him a lopsided grin.

Henry rolled his eyes, but he went inside and got a black zip-up hoodie, which was good enough. Regina would be happy to see him in a jacket when she showed up. Emma did not need to get in any more trouble considering she still was not allowed home and it had been almost two weeks. _I can’t believe this crap is still going on and I didn’t even do anything!_ She put that out of her head and focused on the car.

Henry was Emma’s assistant until his mom arrived and he had homework to do, which became a little routine they worked up. Regina did not even look at her the first couple of days, despite the fact that she was saving Regina’s precious car. Regina acknowledged Emma with a glance and nothing more on the third day. Then, the next day, it was a little more.

Emma was cleaning up as the sunset behind her. Regina stepped outside, with tupperware in her hands and a thermos on top of it. Emma finished putting away some tools and wiped her hands as Regina stood before her. There was a knot in her chest, but hope loosened it a bit as she looked at the items Regina held.

“I made too much. I’m sure you need a break from burgers and beer,” Regina said.

Emma smiled and the hope spread through her a little more, releasing tension built up over weeks. This was Regina’s love language. It might take a while, as this was Regina, but they would get there. _I wish I didn’t have to wait this out in the damn B &B, but whatever_.

“Thanks. I miss your cooking,” Emma admitted as she accepted everything. “And is this cider?”

“Of course it is. There’s enough here for dinner and lunch.”

“Thanks, babe.”

Regina’s eyes erupted with fury. “Don’t ‘babe’ me.” She turned and slammed the front door as she went back inside the house. 

Emma was not sure if that was her usual anger at pet names or leftover anger over this whole kissing mess. She decided not to stress it. Regina accepted her help with the car and gave her food. She would be back in the house eventually. _I just hope it doesn’t take the rest of the year_.

-8-8-8-8-

It took almost a full week before Regina went from sending Emma on her way with dinner to inviting her to stay for dinner. “It’s just so you don’t eat too late. That’s not healthy,” Regina said with a frown.

Emma grinned and accepted, feeling the need to fix her clothes as she went to the house, like she could not be disheveled from fixing the car. She was not sure why, but it felt right to have her button-up closed and everything. Henry rushed her and hugged her as soon as she crossed the threshold of the house. Something inside of her untied itself and she felt looser, more relaxed. She was home.

“Both of you, go wash up,” Regina told them.

Emma missed that, missed this. This was her family. She and Henry disappeared upstairs in silence, as if noise would banish her from the house.

She went to the ensuite bathroom in the bedroom and paused. Nothing looked different, even though she had not been there for three weeks. Her toothbrush was still there. Her other toiletries were still exactly where she left them. Even her towel was still hanging on the outside of the shower. Regina had not purged her from their room. 

Once again, something inside of her let go. It was like thorn vines had been around her organs and bones. Now, they were gone. Regina had not thrown her away. This was still her home. _I just have to wait for Regina to stop being pissed and it’ll be fine. Slowly, but surely_.

Emma washed up, resisting the urge to hop in the shower. The water pressure at _Granny’s_ was crap, especially compared to this shower and its dual showerheads. Once she was clean, Emma returned to the table and took her usual seat. Henry was right behind her and sat across from her. Regina served their plates and sat in her usual spot at the head of the table. Lamb chops, mashed potatoes, string beans, and buttered biscuits never looked so good.

They were having a family dinner, like they used to before Lily torpedoed her life yet again. Family dinners had been few and far in between for her until Regina and Henry let her in their lives.

“So, how’s the car coming along?” Henry asked, grinning so hard it was a wonder he did not split his face open. He moved his food around with his fork, like he planned to prolong the meal by pretending to eat.

“And here it is I thought you were assisting,” Regina said.

Henry sat up and put his chin in the air. “I am! It’s just really complicated.”

Emma held in a laugh. Henry was great at passing her the wrong thing she asked for, but she was glad to spend time with him. “The car will live. It’s going to take a lot of work.” She was confident in that. Michael probably just did not have the time to repair the car. He had other vehicles to work on while she could spare her entire evening for it.

“Imagine that,” Regina said with a brief frown. Knowing her, she was planning to curse Michael out, without using a swear word, for trying to declare her car junk.

“What’s wrong with it?” Henry asked.

Emma shrugged. “It’s just old. Things get worn down with time no matter how much love and care you put into them.” She smiled at Regina. She did not want Regina to think she had done anything to mess up the car. That was Regina’s second child, or first child considering it was older than Henry.

“Yes, and then we have to work on those things,” Regina said.

Emma held up a finger. “Exactly, for upkeep. So, I’m putting in the work.”

Henry looked between them and then stared at Emma. Emma was not sure why he eyed her like she had done something. He leaned in and she focused on her food for a moment, showing big forkfuls into her face. His mouth dropped open.

“Wow. Really?’’ Henry shook his head and turned to Regina. “Good luck, Mom, because wow.”

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose. “Love, care, and work.” She blew out a breath and cut some of her lamb chop to eat. “How’s your English project going, Henry?”

Henry jumped right into his project talk and eating at the same time, but in a controlled manner to avoid being scolded. It was so normal. Emma forgot about what would happen at the end until Regina pressed a dish into her hands while directing her to the door. She had to leave.

But, from that moment on, she was able to stay for dinner and she was able to stay a little bit later each night. It might take some time, but Regina seemed to be on the road to forgiving her. It was about time.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina had learned how to drown out a lot of gossip and rumors about her. If she did not, it would drive her mad. What she had not learned to do was ignore her mother. So, when she got invited to tea with her mother, and probably her sister, she left Henry with Emma and took an Uber to the estate. It was still technically Storybrooke, but it was far enough and large enough to be its own thing.

“Going home?” the driver asked.

Regina frowned. “Obviously.” She did not know the driver, but the driver knew her.

The driver whistled when they pulled up. “I heard tales, but never realized how loaded you are.”

“One has to be connected to the money to be ‘loaded.’“ Regina had fallen out of favor with her mother over fifteen years ago. That was fine until her father died eleven years ago. She used an app on her phone to open the gate to the house and the car continued up the paved driveway. 

The estate loomed, like an impregnable medieval castle. It used to be light, as if made of sandstone, but the exterior had been redone in dark tones right after her father died. It was cold and imposing with an iron gate around it, like the gates of Hell. It had not always been that way. 

When her father was alive, sometimes the place seemed warm, like home. There was a welcoming air to it once upon a time. She doubted it would ever feel that way again.

A maid let Regina in and took her jacket. She did not need direction, knowing her mother was in her sunroom. Zelena was there. They were talking until Regina darkened the doorway. They turned to her at the same time.

“Ah, Regina, only ten minutes late,” her mother said, as if this was a formal event. Of course, considering her mother’s black dress and red drape, it might as well be a formal affair. Zelena was decked in her usual emerald and black. Regina had on a deep blue dress, wanting to be set apart from them when they were together.

Regina shrugged, not much to avoid it seeming like a hostile act. “Yes, well, I am still without a car and couldn’t force the Uber driver to go faster.” In fact, she would have tipped higher if they were later.

Her mother nodded, even though they knew it did not did not matter. “Well, don’t stand on ceremony.”

Regina sat in the nearest chair and felt her execution was imminent. Why else would her mother invite her out? She needed to belittle Regina for some perceived shortcoming. The trick would be for Regina to not take it personally. She had yet to manage that. But, she had learned to eat it rather than make it worse. But, sometimes, eating it meant poisoning herself.

“What type of tea do you want?” her mother asked, crossing her legs at the ankle, even though they had already been crossed. She was dressed in black and purple, a dress that made it seem like she had an event outside to get to, but it was more a flex than anything else. She had to be dressed up to dress down her daughters.

“Whatever you’re having is fine.” Black tea was as good as any other, especially when it was there as decoration more than anything else. The perfect porcelain tea set sat in the middle of the table. The teapot was red with gold vines creeping up it. The cups were on matching saucers with golden spoons resting at their sides. There was a platter of tea cakes and biscuits. _Who is Mother trying to impress? Us? The staff?_

Her mother cocked an eyebrow. “That’s not your usual go-getter attitude.” She motioned to a maid to pour Regina’s tea. It was so decadent. Her mother reveled in this sort of thing.

Regina did not react. “I was unaware I had such an attitude.” That was the attitude her mother wanted her to have.

“I think we all know how enterprising and ambitious you can be when you put your mind to it,” her mother replied and then sipped her own tea.

“You give me too much credit, Mother.” Regina had stopped fighting her mother over the years, opting for humbleness, backhanded compliments, and false modesty to respond to her mother demands. She did not have time for the struggle anymore. She had her own family and issues there to deal with. 

Zelena scowled. “Don’t play coy, Regina. Mother’s paying you a compliment.”

Regina glanced at her sister, but was not sure if she really wanted to engage with her. Was this a meeting where it was her against them or was Zelena trying to help? Zelena’s version of help was always bizarre. But, then again, that was thanks to their mother. Cora ruined literally everything she touched.

“Where’s my niece? I brought sweets for her.” Regina held up her purse. There was quite a bit of candy in there for Robbie. Seeing Robbie was the only thing that would make the trip worth it and it would seem Robbie had managed to dodge the bullet that was this reunion.

“You give her too many sweets. She won’t have any teeth thanks to you,” Zelena replied, waving the whole matter off.

Now, this was a game Regina could play. “You say that as the person who buys Henry every new gaming console to come out. He’ll ruin his eyes thanks to you.” It was nice that Zelena wanted to be an aunt to Henry considering their mother had no desire to be his grandmother since he was adopted and his birth mother was in the picture again. Mother had no time for Emma.

“You’re both too indulgent with your children,” Mother said.

Regina and Zelena glanced away. Their mother was the last person to give advice, on anything really, but especially parenting advice. Regina had battled abuse of almost all types since birth thanks to her mother. Zelena possibly had it worse. 

Zelena was the product of a one-night stand and stood in the way of their mother marrying up, so she abandoned Zelena. Just left her for dead on the side of the road. Zelena lucked out and was adopted by the couple who discovered her. Her luck held until her adoptive mother had the poor manners to die when she was a teenager and it turned out the father never wanted her. He kicked Zelena out and she had the continued bad luck of finding her birth mother. She had almost escaped as their mother dismissed her out of hand, but Regina’s father welcomed Zelena into their home. Well, from that point on, Zelena was trapped. It could only get worse from there.

“How is your son, Regina?” her mother asked as if she cared.

Why was she asking about Henry? “He’s fine.”

“Is he ready for you running for reelection?” her mother asked.

Regina sipped her tea. It was a high-end beverage, as everything was with her mother, but it reminded Regina of tears, so that was how the tea tasted to her. “I don’t see what he needs to prepare for. He’s gone through this before.”

“Yes, but he was, what, five?”

“Seven.”

“Well, at eleven, he could be trouble at public appearances.”

Regina held in a recoil. She would never! “I don’t plan to have him at any. I’ve won elections without using him as a prop.” Henry wanted to have a normal life, and she would do her best to grant that, even with his mothers as mayor and sheriff of his hometown.

Her mother scowled, like she was disgusted. “I’m not suggesting you use him as a prop and don’t you think you’ll need all the help you can get after this recent scandal.”

Regina almost rolled her eyes, but had little desire to die at the table. “It’s not my first scandal.” And, with the way the universe treated her, it probably would not be her last.

“You think people will trust you to lead after you can’t be trusted to keep your marriage together? Or is that why you’re taking her back? Of course those optics are even worse,” her mother said.

“Worse than the optics when I was split from my then girlfriend, began dating Robin Hood, only to find out he impregnated my sister?” Regina arched an eyebrow. Talk about a scandal. She could have done without that one, even though dating and losing Robin helped her understand how much she missed and loved Emma. _Too bad the feeling doesn’t seem to be mutual_. Emma did not love or miss her enough to even apologize for her terrible judgment.

Zelena choked. “Regina!” What was shocking? It was not a secret. They just rarely mentioned it now.

“What?” Regina waved the matter off. “I’m over it. I adore Robbie and I’m married to Emma. I’m just using it as a point that there have been bigger scandals.” One day, one of them probably would take her down, but she could not imagine this one being it. Her current spat with Emma was benign compared to so many other things the town talked about.

Her mother scowled. “You have a history of not keeping a mate. It looks bad.”

“And taking Emma back looks equally bad to you.” Of course, her mother never liked the idea of her marrying Emma in the first place. There was no money or power to be had there.

“You come off as a doormat. Who wants that to lead you?”

Regina arched an eyebrow. “So, I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.”

Her mother inhaled and sat back. “You did it to yourself really. I warned you against marrying that woman and now look at where you are.” Then, she drank her tea, like Regina allowed Emma to ruin the world or something.

That was not a lie. Her mother told her not to marry Emma on many different occasions for a number of reasons, the biggest being Emma’s financial situation, or lack thereof. But, marrying Emma had actually boosted her image. The town thought they were cute and made them rather famous around the state. Regina was popular enough to be known if she desired to run for governor, which would not impress her mother. Her mother was old fashion. She wanted Regina to marry the governor, be the woman behind the power. More because it gave her plausible deniability the moment something wrong than anything else.

“Marrying her helped soften my image,” Regina said.

“Yes, to the point you’re ready to be squished,” her mother replied.

“Then I suppose it’s bound to happen.” It would not be her first time. She bounced back, though. She liked to think of herself as a cat, a black cat. She had nine lives and all the bad luck.

“Oh, just divorce the woman, Regina!” Zelena threw her hands up. 

Their mother glared at her, even though that was exactly what she was hinting at. She just did not like when Zelena raised her voice. Had she raised Zelena, she would have beat that out of Zelena in no time. Instead, Zelena lacked patience and hated whenever Regina or their mother danced around issues. Zelena would not last in politics, or tricky situations really.

“Because someone kissed her?” Regina could see why she was the only one happily married at the table. _Well, it’s not ‘happily’ at the moment_. But, she could still see why she was the only one with a successful marriage. Hell, a successful relationship. One of the reasons Robyn was called “Robbie” was thanks to Zelena’s feelings toward Robin. But, trying to keep Robin was one of the reasons Robyn was named after him, though he never took the time to see her.

Her mother curled her lip and narrowed her gaze on Regina. “You believe that story? When did you become so pathetic?”

It was not a matter of belief. Regina heard what happened from enough people, but she knew better than anyone how Emma felt about Lily and what Lily had done to Emma in her life. There was no way Emma would kiss Lily. She was surprised the story did not actually end with Lily spitting out teeth. Regina definitely would have punched her in the mouth and “punch first, ask questions later” was basically Emma’s motto.

“You kicked her out, so obviously it means more to you than you’re pretending,” Zelena said.

Regina had more of her tea. They would not understand why she did what she did. Every slight against them demanded revenge. Regina had been the same way after Daniel died until she met Emma. Emma slowly helped soften her heart and she was able to rediscover who she was. Emma’s presence reminded her that she was a better person than she had acted for far too long. She and Emma were better people together. Her mother would never understand. Her mother had no desire to be a better person and there was never a better person hiding inside of her.

Zelena would never get it because Zelena had never been in love. Zelena had never been married. She was not sure if Zelena had ever had a serious relationship. Hell, she was not sure if Zelena had even learned to trust people again after the things their mother put her through. So, Zelena would never understand what Regina and Emma were going through.

“My marriage is my concern,” Regina said.

Her mother shook her head. “Is that the example you want to set for your son? Let him think in a relationship it’s all right for one party to cheat?”

Regina almost had to literally bite her tongue to avoid snapping at her mother. Her mother had no business telling anyone how to raise children. She had no business trying to advise anyone about a marriage either. She married Regina’s father for the money and had a long term affair for her entire marriage. It was an open secret around town, something Regina had been taunted about throughout her childhood.

The entire time was spent like this. Her mother needed her to understand she would not be reelected if she took Emma back. She would look weak and no one wanted weak leadership. She was so tired when she and Zelena were allowed to leave.

“Do you want a ride home?” Zelena asked, motioning to her emerald green Porsche.

“I’m fine with the rideshare.” She did not want to chance being trapped in a car with her sister, in case Zelena was in the mood to parrot their mother.

Zelena frowned. “Really?”

“You won’t convince me Mother’s right.”

Zelena scoffed. “Why would I try that?”

“You chose her side inside.”

“We both know it’s less painful. We also both know you’re going to take Emma back.”

Regina arched an eyebrow. “Do we know that?”

Zelena looked at her like she was insane for asking that question. “You wouldn’t be letting her spend so much time with Henry if you didn’t plan to take her back.”

“She’s his mother.”

Zelena held up a finger. “But, if you were going to break up with her, you’d be preparing him for that separation. I remember the effort you went through with Robin.”

“What effort?”

“Exactly!” Zelena pointed in her face, almost tapping the end of her nose. “You liked to claim Robin was a serious relationship, but I know he only met Henry once and it was by accident. You didn’t let him around Henry the way you let Emma around him.”

“She’s his mother.”

Zelena rolled her eyes. “No, you’re his mother. We both know that. You decide who you want to spend time with your child and you’re very careful with it.” Zelena glanced away. “I learned more from watching you as to why that’s so important than from my own life.”

Regina shook her head. “‘It’s been selfishness on my part for a long time.”

“Not recently. You’re not weak for taking her back, just like I wasn’t stupid for leaving Robin.”

Regina chuckled a little. “Possibly the smartest move you ever made.” Of course, their mother had not agreed and cut Zelena down for it more often than not, but Zelena was happier for it. It was that move that helped them begin to build a real relationship as sisters.

Zelena nodded. “The stupid thing was stealing him in the first place.” She was trying to get on their mother’s good side at the time. It worked for a while, mostly because Robin was wealthy. But, Zelena hated the man and could not stand him for long periods of time. She did not care about his money either, which he was lucky for. She had not requested a huge amount of child support, which she would have gotten because Regina would have represented her. Her law credentials could have used the workout.

“You didn’t steal him, but we got Robbie out of it and that’s good enough for me.” Regina smiled. She adored her toddler niece.

Zelena grinned, a proud mama. No matter her feelings toward Robin, Zelena did her best to be a good mother to Robbie. That helped break their mother’s spell over Zelena and helped the sisters become closer. Zelena wanted to be more like her adoptive mother in parenting and that was a good goal. Meanwhile, Robin seemed to think as long as he made his child support payments on time, he was a good father to his daughter.

“We should do something, a girls’ day, after you sort out this trouble with Emma,” Zelena said as Regina’s ride pulled up.

“Emma didn’t cheat, you know.”

Zelena scoffed. “I have no doubt, but she did something bad. You kicked her out.”

“It wasn’t cheating, though.” It was not why people were judging their relationship. It was worse as far as she was concerned.

“But, you’re pissed over it.”

Oh, yes, she was. She might die mad about it, especially since Emma did not realize what she had done. She had to figure out how to handle it. They could not live in limbo forever, but it hurt every time she thought about it, rubbed raw on her soul, and she thought it whenever someone mentioned Emma and that damned kiss. It would fester and she might just have to eat it, like her mother’s insults. More poison. She probably would die mad about it from her own repression.

“Maybe we should do the girls’ day soon. A dose of Robbie always cheers you up,” Zelena said.

“Well, she’s adorable. I don’t know where she got that from.” Regina grinned before hopping into the rideshare. Zelena gave her the finger as she left and she laughed.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina entered the house to the sound of laughter and shouting. Emma and Henry were in the living room, playing video games and jumping on each other to sabotage the other. A regular day for them.

“Hey, babe,” Emma said.

“You’re not going to fool me with that again!” Henry reached over to grab Emma’s controller.

“But, your mom is really there!” Emma yanked her remote away.

Henry fell for it, giving her a glance. Regina smiled as Emma screamed and leaped up. Henry’s head snapped back at the television.

“You’re a cheater!” Henry yanked Emma back down.

Regina shook her head at their antics. They always had such fun together, very different from when she and Henry spent time together. How could she take that from him regardless of what happened to her and Emma? Of course, Zelena seemed to think this would be the deciding factor. _Ugh, what if she’s right?_ Regina would never hear the end of it.

“Have you played video games this whole time?” Regina asked.

“We worked on the car some and had pizza,” Henry replied.

Emma arched an eyebrow. “We worked on the car?”

Henry shoved her. “I handed you tools like always! It’s honest work.”

Emma laughed and ruffled his hair. They grinned at each other. Regina melted at the sight. Could she take this from Henry, even if it would not be her fault? Could she stomach Emma’s poisonous presence for Henry? Probably.

Regina went upstairs, needing time to think. All of this pain and suffering could be avoided if Emma would just admit she was wrong. Was it so hard? The town had led Emma to believe she walked on water and Emma brought into hook, line, and sinker, so there was no chance of her owning up to it. Regina would either have to swallow a bitter pill or hurt all of them. All or one? None of this was fair.

She showered and dressed as she asked herself several times if what happened was worth her marriage. Emma thought it was minor, not worth mentioning and that was infuriating. She was not worth an open and honest relationship. And that was what it really came down to — she was not worth it.

Emma had gotten so comfortable that she knew she could get away with anything with Regina. And it seemed true. People expected Regina just to give in because she loved Emma, because Emma was Henry’s birth mother, because Emma saved her life, because Emma saved Henry’s life, and the list went on. Everyone felt Regina was in debt to Emma and that should keep Regina there, but she would not be held emotionally hostage by anyone.

Regina went downstairs and found it quiet. Emma had made herself scarce. Maybe she sensed Regina’s mood. Although, Emma did not hang around her after she saw her mother and sister. It was always a crapshoot of how Regina’s mentality would be after. She was always just as likely to need cuddles as she might need to tear something apart. Emma tended to wait and see before guessing what to do with Regina.

“Wanna watch a show?” Henry asked.

“Your mother left?”

“Yeah. She said she had to go home.”

Regina nodded. “At least she fed you before fleeing the scene. Did you have a good time together?”

Henry shrugged. “It was okay. It’s still weird. When’s Ma gonna move back in?”

Regina blinked. He said it like it was inevitable, like Emma had to wait her out. “Did you ask her?” It was on Emma.

“She said whenever you’re ready forgive her.”

Of course she did. Emma seemed to think she was totally innocent in the matter and Regina was being unreasonable. No matter how this went, Regina was the bad guy. Fine. She knew how to be the bad guy.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma stood up from Regina’s car and wiped her hands off with the nearest rag. It was hot, even as the day was ending. The sun was descending, signaling dinner. She could not wait to eat. Her stomach growled. She turned to the house to see Regina step outside.

Emma smiled and wiped her brow with her forearm. There was no way in hell she was putting her shirt back on. “Hey, I’m almost done. Probably a few more days.”

Regina folded her arms across her chest. “That’s good. I guess you should get home to rest up.”

Emma’s brow furrowed. Head home? “No dinner?”

Regina’s jaw twitched. “We’re sending the wrong message to Henry. He’s under the impression you’ll be moving back in.”

Emma scowled and threw her shoulders back. “So, I’m not moving back?”

“I would love to be able to see that in the future.”

“But, you don’t?”

“You don’t seem to be in a hurry to accept responsibility for why you’re not here in the first place.”

“It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t cheat on you.”

Regina let loose a god-awful scream. “It’s not about that! How can you not get that?”

Emma glared at her. “Then what is it about? Why the hell don’t you just tell me! This cryptic shit isn’t cutting it!”

Regina wilted right in front of her eyes, like Emma blew out a candle in Regina. Emma felt like she might have to pick up a “worst spouse’’ award. This was not about her cheating. But, what was it about? She searched her mind, but nothing came up. _Think, idiot! This is your marriage here!_

“Goodnight, Emma,” Regina said, her voice soft, and she went back into the house. Somehow, it looked like she would blow away in harsh wind and that was Emma’s fault.

Emma did not want to watch Regina walk away, but she could not look away. What had she done? Regina knew she did not cheat. She would never ruin her family. So, what was she supposed to do?

Emma returned home, home being her room at _Granny’s_. She wanted a drink, but did not have any beers. Good thing her best friend lived down the hall. She knocked on Ruby’s door and hoped like Hell Dorothy was not in there with Ruby.

“Emma, what’s up?” Ruby asked. She was dressed in some sweatpants and a camisole, not sexy at all, so Dorothy probably was not there.

“I’m dying for a beer and unfortunately have none,” Emma replied.

“Say no more.” Ruby opened the door wide. “You probably shouldn’t drink alone, anyway.”

Emma stepped into the room and dropped onto her usual spot on the small, black couch. Ruby’s room was larger than the average room in _Granny’s_ , more like a studio apartment. It was painted in warm, soothing blue tones. It was a nice change from the dull tans and greens surrounding Emma in her room.

Ruby got a beer for her and plopped down on the other end of the couch. Ruby passed her an open bottle. She tipped the neck of the bottle to Ruby, who did the same with her own drink. Ruby kicked her feet up on her coffee table and scanned the television for something to watch. They drank in silence for a while.

“So, what happened? You’re usually at the dinner table at this time,” Ruby said.

Emma shook her head and took a long pull from her beer. “I’m not sure. I thought I was on my way back home.”

“Seemed that way. Did you do something?”

“No, but she saw her mom and sister yesterday. They probably riled her up.”

Ruby shook her head. “Regina’s mother is such a piece of work.”

“You think she made Regina think I was cheating?” Emma asked as she took another huge drink from her beer bottle. Not that Regina thought she cheated. _What the hell did I do then? Or what the hell does she think I did?_

Ruby scoffed. “Cora’s probably worried about Regina being reelected. Cora’s always been about money and power. So, if anything, she’s worried about the optics of you cheating more than convincing Regina you cheated.”

Emma shook her head. “It must’ve been a trip growing up around this shit.”

“Oh, Storybrooke was never boring, even on my end. We always had some craziness going on. There was never a shortage of rumors about Cora. For a long time, we talked about her being a witch. We were convinced she could kill you with potions. We never trick-or-treated at that house, even though Henry would have the gates open and try to wave kids in. But, again, there was always something going on here.”

Emma could only imagine. She had seen some things in Storybrooke that shocked her, and she had lived all across the United States in some weird households. And as bizarre as she thought it was, everybody else in town would be like, “meh, must be Wednesday” and go about their lives. It was almost funny.

“You think this has to do with her reelection? She doesn’t have to worry about that for months,” Emma said.

“True, but this just piles on the list of shit people have to say about Regina and it’s not looking good. People have really been going in since it looks like she’s going to take you back.”

Emma leaned forward. “Really?” That might explain why Regina made her leave. That was not fair. She had no control over other people, but then again that was this whole mess. Other people kept things going, other people even started it. She gulped more beer.

Ruby chuckled and drank some of her beer. “Yeah, a bunch of people think she’s a pushover for letting you back in.”

Emma could not believe what she was hearing. “I’m not back in! I’ve been living here for over a month.”

Ruby waved that off. “They know Regina’s feeding you. If Regina’s feeding you, she’s fucking you. If she’s fucking you, she’s forgiven you.”

Emma scowled. “She’s not even fucking me. Well, fucking me over, but that’s no fun. Not to mention, Regina hate-fucks people. Believe me, I know.”

Ruby snickered. “You would be the one to know that. But, anyway, the town has their own narrative going. You’re a major player, but Regina’s a mess. They can’t believe she took you back without you having to crawl through broken glass. They think she’s losing her edge.”

Emma snorted. That was all she needed to know about how wrong rumors could be. Regina was nothing but edge. Emma drank some more and was soon empty. Ruby kept the bottles coming, though.

“Yeah, so the idea that our own Evil Queen has lost her bite does have some people worried. The thing about Regina being a hard-ass is that she’s a hard-ass for the people. She’s one of the few politicos who really does work for us and will do the dirty work for us. We know when she goes all Evil Queen, it’s for us. What if she stops?”

“So, I broke her?” Emma blew a raspberry. “You guys don’t know Regina at all.”

Ruby laughed. “Oh, please! I know nothing will break that woman, but some people think this is it for her. Sounds like no historic third term for Regina.”

“That can’t be true. I’ll punch Lily in the face if that’s the case.” Not that Lily was even around anymore. It was just like Lily to blow in, blow up her life, and then get the hell out of Dodge. _Fuck her_.

Ruby shrugged. “Would that help?”

“Help me feel better.”

“Well, that’s all good until you lose your job and Regina still doesn’t get reelected.”

Emma sucked her teeth. “And that’s such bullshit. Regina’s awesome at her job regardless of her personal life.”

“Some people think one has to do with the other. It’s given other people a wedge in. Now, they can talk about her being bisexual. They can talk about her affair with Robin.”

“It wasn’t even an affair. We broke up and stupid Robin was separated from his wife at the time. If anything, they should wonder why the hell his women keep ending up with women. Mulan is keeping Marian pretty damn happy.”

“Emma, nobody cares about the details. It’s all about what’s the best story.”

Emma knew that was the truth, but it hurt her heart. More beer was necessary. She needed to drown a gnawing sensation in her stomach. Her actions had the town talking about Regina and it seemed like they never had good things to say. It was like the town just extended the abuse Regina had in her home and it was terrible because she did so much good for the town. Emma remembered Regina used to tell her that the gossip did not bother her, but that could not be true. How could Regina be immune to every harsh thing said about her?

 _And, it’s your fault_. Emma shook that thought away. It was not her fault. This was all Lily. Lily had wrecked her life, her marriage, and stood in the way of Regina making history. She drank more, needing those thoughts to disappear under the waves of alcohol. 

Emma was not sure how long she stayed with Ruby, but Dorothy popped up and it was time to go. She was drunk to be sure, but she only needed to make it down the hall. That did not explain how she ended up in the foyer at home.

“I live here. Why should I leave?” Emma grumbled aloud. She toed off her boots and collapsed on the couch.

“Emma?” Regina said as the living room lights came on.

Emma groaned at the light and closed her eyes for a long moment. “Yeah?”

Regina glared at her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Emma shrugged. “Maybe sleeping on the couch.” Which was where she should have been. “Why the hell did I have to leave? Why the hell couldn’t I just sleep on the couch?” She slapped the cushion and a dull thud echoed through the quiet house.

“Because I don’t want to see you and you’re the one who’s wrong.”

“Wrong?” Emma shot up and almost fell over. Thankfully, she stayed on her feet, so she could keep her anger momentum. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Regina arched an eyebrow. “Didn’t you?”

“This isn’t even about me! This about your stupid reelection.”

Regina growled. “Lower your voice before you wake up Henry.”

Emma waved her hand around, as it seemed like it would help make her point. “Why? Do you need his vote?”

That took the wind out of Regina’s sail and she sighed, almost shrunk before Emma’s eyes. Regina pointed to the door. “Emma, just leave.”

Emma made two fists and took a step closer. “Why the hell do I have to leave? I didn’t do anything wrong. I left before because I thought you were just mad and you needed space, but this is about optics. I can’t believe you’d give up on us over optics!”

Regina folded her arms across her chest and her chin trembled. “Is that what you think this is about?”

“What else could it be? You care about what this dumb-ass town thinks! You’re just going to let them ruin us! I wasn’t even going to tell you about the stupid kiss!”

Regina stared at her for a long moment, like she was waiting for something, and then she nodded. “You still have no fucking clue.”

Emma blinked. Regina rarely dropped f-bombs. She squinted, studying Regina’s face. There was a red flush from anger and fury in her eyes, but there was a district shimmer. _Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry._ That was Emma’s kryptonite. 

“You really think so little of me.” Regina circled her, like a shark looking for an angle of attack. “So, you’re the offended party here. You deserve the couch and I’m willing to throw away everything we’ve ever desired for a job I only do to rub in my mother’s face? Is that the narrative we’re going with?”

Even with beer fogging her brain, Emma was more than aware she had to choose her next words carefully. “I didn’t do anything.” _I’m sure that wasn’t careful_. _Well, that was a nice marriage we had there, idiot_.

Regina shook her head and glared like she was about to let Emma have it. Emma braced herself for the full fury of her wife. But, instead of a scream, a sob escaped Regina. Wide brown eyes stared at her and Regina slapped her hand over her mouth. A tear escaped her eye and Regina bolted for the safety of upstairs. Emma stood there like the idiot she was.

“I made her cry,” Emma said, as if it was so horrific, it needed to be spoken aloud. She had seen Regina cry very few times, usually recounting how unfair life had been to her.

That was worse than being kicked out. It was worse than being stabbed in the heart. It was like everything inside of her rotted and then fell out. What the fuck had she done to make Regina cry? It was not about cheating. It was not about people talking. It was not about a reelection and making history. What the fuck had she done? _I didn’t even want to tell her!_ And then, the light bulb went off.

She was not going to tell Regina. Regina, who told her everything, who trusted her with everything. She was going to lie by omission and she bragged about that, used it as a defense. She had not just stabbed Regina in the heart and turned it clockwise, but twisted it countless times after. Hell, twice just now. She put the blame on Regina, accused Regina of caring about public appearances, and insisted she was innocent. No, she was guilty. Guilty of so many crimes, too many crimes. _Fuck!_

She should have known. When was she ever totally right when they argued? She had taken a little thing, a kiss she had not desired, and turned it into a huge thing about how she did not trust Regina. Apparently, she was the type to go fishing with dynamite.

With her drunken audacity abandoning her and sobriety nipping at her heels, Emma climbed the stairs. Her nerves itched and burned as her lungs decided breathing was not something she should be allowed to do. She found Regina in her office, laid out on the chaise, sniffling, and drinking cider more than likely. Emma sat down next to her. Her chest was still tight, like she did not deserve air, not while Regina was crushed.

“So… I’m stupid,” Emma said.

Regina’s eyes stared ahead of her. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Emma sighed and rubbed her palms on her knees. “Here’s the thing, I wasn’t going to tell you because I didn’t want you to get hurt. I guess I forgot I’m a fuck-up.”

Regina’s mouth twitched. “But, you’re my fuck-up. And you always fuck-up with good intentions.”

Emma rubbed her knees even more. _Shit, she’s trying to let you off the hook, just so you’ll leave. Fix this shit, idiot_. “Yeah, but the path to Hell and all that crap about good intentions. I didn’t want you to get hurt or make a big deal about it.”

“Yes, because how dare that bitch touch you without your permission?” Regina scowled.

“She claimed she wanted another chance. My dumb-ass didn’t realize she meant another chance to fuck up my life until she kissed me. And I know if I told you, the first thing you’d worry about is if you were enough. But, you’ve always been more than enough. You’re the best thing to happen to me after Henry. And I just didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Well, the silence hurt. Not recognizing your mistake hurt. Thinking I give a damn how people look at us and thinking I’m playing into that hurt.”

Emma sighed and scrubbed her face with both hands. “I know. I know. Again, path to Hell.”

Regina frowned and shook her head. “No, thinking I kicked you out because of public opinion rather than you did something wrong is just you not wanting to admit you were wrong. You should’ve spoken to me.”

Emma hunched over a bit, the scolding bending her spine. “I’m sorry. I just felt like you overreacted. I didn’t want to be wrong.”

Regina put down her glass. “People rarely want to be wrong, but how are we to make it if you don’t talk to me? How is it we can know each other’s histories, but you could withhold such basic information as a woman who hates you kissed you?”

Emma rubbed her eye with the heel of her hand, trying to hold back tears. She did not get to cry. “I’m so sorry. I made this so much worse than it needed to be. And I get it. And I get you told me to get out because I thought withholding information was the way to go, like I didn’t trust you. But, never doubt, I do trust you.”

Regina inhaled deeply as she moved and took Emma’s hand. “I overreacted a bit. I shouldn’t have kicked you out. That made a private problem public. That made it much harder to resolve this.”

“We can resolve this, right?” Emma squeezed her hand. She could not screw this up. She loved Regina so much and did such a stupid thing. How could she not realize that?

“That’s what we’re doing now. We’ve acknowledged our wrongs. Are we going to do better in the future?”

Emma sniffled as a tear fell as she nodded. “I hope so. I’m never going to not tell you anything ever again.”

“And I won’t kick you out again for something like this. This wasn’t a healthy way to deal with things.”

Emma smiled. “And now what?”

“We move forward.”

“And your historic third term as mayor?”

Regina laughed. “That’s a problem for the future. I’m not even sure I want to run again.”

“Of course you do. You have to make history!” Emma nudged her with her shoulder.

Regina smiled, but did not say anything else on the matter. Emma did not press it. Like Regina said, that was for the future. For now, there was their marriage. Regina let her stay, but she had to sleep in the guest room. One step at a time.

-8-8-8-8-

Henry howled with joy when he came downstairs and found Emma eating breakfast. He rushed Emma and hugged her, almost causing her to collide with the marble counter. Emma rubbed his head and hugged him back. Regina smiled at the sight.

“What are you doing here so early? And in pajamas? You spent the night?” Henry bounced as he asked each question.

“I’m back home after taking your good advice,” Emma replied as she patted his shoulders.

Henry threw his shoulders back with pride. “Told you.”

Emma shook her head. “You are so your mom’s son.”

“Oh, because you’re not insufferable on the rare occasions when you’re right,” Regina replied.

Emma laughed at the truth. They ate breakfast and went about their day. Regina’s car still was not ready, but Emma drove her to the office after dropping off Henry at school. They sat together in the car for a moment after they pulled up to the Town Hall.

“They’re going to be talking about this soon, huh?” Emma said.

Regina shrugged. “That’s what they do. What they say doesn’t matter. They’re not in this marriage with us.”

Emma blew out a breath. “You’re right about that. I worry over them influencing you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve learned to ignore them.” Regina leaned over and kissed Emma on the lips. “Let them talk as long as we talk to each other.”

“Yeah, no more trying to protect you from the truth. I will tell you everything because I love you and I trust you. God, I trust you so damn much and love you so damn much,” Emma said.

“Good.” Regina kissed her again. “You still have to fix my car, though.”

Emma laughed. “I’ll finish it today. Promise.”

“Then I’ll make your favorite dinner.” That would be her formal apology for their month-plus separation. “Try to have an ordinary day.” Which could mean anything on any given day in Storybrooke.

Emma smiled and her eyes sparkled. “Promise to try.”

And from there, Regina went to work. Tongues were already wagging when she entered. So what? There would always be talk, but she would not let it ruin things for her. She never had. With luck, Emma would learn to deal and their marriage would survive. She was confident in their relationship. Confident in them. People would talk, but they would endure.

-8-8-8-8-

The End.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who read the story. I hope you guys enjoyed this. I hope you continue to read and enjoy my work. Back to my padded cell with me until next time. Please, come say hi to me on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/SL-Kassidy-482097488469386) and keep up with my musings and find out more about my writing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna see more of my fanfics, they're all at FFN under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fanfiction.net/~starvinglunatic). Come say hi to me on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/SL-Kassidy-482097488469386/). You can get news about this and other stories. I’m also on Tumblr: [Slunatic](https://slunatic.tumblr.com/)


End file.
